Month: March 2016

Last month, the Prowein International Trade Fair for Wine and Spirits, the largest in Europe, was held in Dusseldorf, Germany. Some 52,000 visitors, 6,000 exhibitors, and 1,000 journalists from 47 countries came to the industry-only event. Even for people that make a living from wine, arriving at the gates of this fair for the first time feels a bit like Frodo in front Mordor; you get a jolt of excitement mixed with pure bliss and a hint of anxiety. Rows and rows of exhibition halls stretch in every direction, displaying every type of vino imaginable: European, New World classics, and exotic destinations such as Bolivia and Lebanon.

My task to readers—as a wine shop owner, sommelier, and devotee of reds and whites—was to find the five wines across the planet that travelers should keep their eyes on this coming year. The results of that mission are below. I hope your discovery of these wines adds special meaning to your journeys this year.

Canada is COLD. Living there for six years, I completely understand why Canadians are famous for their luscious icewines, better known as “liquid gold.” Producing since 1985, Ontario proves, year in year out, why it has ideal conditions for these types of wines: warm summers to ripen the grapes and cold winters to leave them on the vines until late January for temperatures of 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit or lower in order to fully concentrate the juices and flavors and get a beverage with high sugars and low alcohol. Awarded gold at the 2015 National Wine Awards of Canada, Vidal’s icewine lives up to this reward fully. Putting my nose inside the glass was like putting it in a jar of granny’s apricot jam—fresh, fruity and sweet. On the palate, it’s pure syrup, with notes of orange zest, ripe nectarine, dripping honey and pineapple. The acidity creates the backbone of the wine and is carried out gorgeously in the lasting aftertaste. Continue reading “5 Wines to Keep on Your Travel Radar for 2016”→